Grow
by Kabashka
Summary: A series of one shots, depicting the many stages of Link's life as he grows in the now peaceful land of Hyrule. Malon and Link is featured, all character bashing prohibited.
1. Chapter 1

A/N : Alrighty, this is a fic to try and ease out writer's block. Besides, I've always kinda wanted to write a Zelda fic. I'm still working on that Spirited Away fic, but the going is slow. Anyway, I hope this is to your liking! It was a bit spontaneous!

**Disclaimer:**Link and the Zelda "crew" so to speak, are not mine, they are Nintendo's (as if you didn't know that). The knight in this is mine. Feel free to use him, because he is merely a device to squeeze out jealousy.

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Link was not often bored. It wasn't a luxury to be written in his destiny, for reasons far too sinister-dealing and stories far too long. But those stories had been taken care of long ago, and yet quite recently. Recently had it happened in the strange sort of paradox that _must_ have happened, and long ago when he had been but a child of ten. That silly jump from child to man.

It had terrified him, really. Believing that you had missed out on seven years of your life, seven years of learning, loving, and possibly between those – boredom. A luxury that was not written in his destiny.

So, when after he had saved the land of Hyrule, he was generally ecstatic to have been sent back to his child self. He felt plenty more normal, and would properly grow into his body rather than feel as though he had been wearing shoes that didn't quite fit. So, after he had become his child self once again, little Link took to the wide world of Hyrule, having had so much fun (among other, less happy dangers) in the regions it beheld. He continued, as he grew, to save villagers, fight villains, and avoid vanity.

What with all the lovely young women who sometimes managed to fall into him, against him, or bluntly…well, you know.

He spent time at the castle, Zelda being the only one who retained memory of the treacherous dangers Link had defeated. It was always good to speak with a friend who knew of familiar pains, troubles, and fears.

However, while Link was fond of the tall, white castle that promised, in a symbolic sense, prosperity – he also enjoyed the freedom of the field. He enjoyed Lon Lon Ranch, because he enjoyed the company it held. Had held, ever since he was ten years old. Though he had once in a while slipped out a word or two of things that had never (to the company) happened, he quickly learned to shut his trap.

He also loved making Malon angry. Not angry in a serious way, but more of a chiding, debating, argumentative way. Right down to the point where they had nothing better to say other than to childishly name-call. Of course it was childish, they were children.

At least, they used to be.

Which comes right back to the beginning – Link was not often bored.

But there he was, being bored inside Malon's room, picking at random things. Horrid little doodles on the backs of old papers, accidentally opening a drawer that she was sure to destroy him for peeping into, counting the rupees she had been saving up (and not planning on paying him back for some she had borrowed), down to thinking about wandering over to a little journal that she wrote in every night.

Oh course, he wouldn't dare. He was more respectful than that. But, goodness, where _was_ that girl?

She said she would be gone for only a few minutes.

They were in the middle of a very intense game of cards! And he knew he would win now, after memorizing her set!

Thoroughly annoyed, which was probably a mask for worry, Link got up, leaving his hat where it had fallen from his head on the floor. He walked out the door, hearing the very quite, muffled voice of Malon coming from outside. Traveling from right to left as she walked past the door, he also heard the muffled voices of men, the sound of armor clanking, boots thumping, horses snorting. Link went outside to investigate. He wasn't alarmed – the voices sounded calm, peaceful.

After breathing the fresh air (the stables across the way were _always_ clean), he found his way to where the horses ran free, and where Malon used to often hum a tune.

Five Hylian soldiers and one knight were dismounted from well-trained horses, one of which who was adorned by an overly detailed, sumptuously garish saddle. Epona, Link thought, would trample him to death if he were to put something so gaudy on her back. However, the white coverlet underneath the saddle matched the polished armor of the knight, and suddenly, Link wondered why he was paying so much damned attention to him.

He had never been fond of the Hylian knights. They followed no knightly code, and the guards were even worse.

He had never feared them. And that wasn't arrogance.

Link watched Malon talk to the knight, who was, evidently, his age. He must've been, with a youthful face and a head of thick brown hair pulled back in a tie. Link had already decided he didn't like him, but he reminded himself that there was no reason to judge.

The soldiers, after hearing something Malon had told them, all wandered into the gate to the horses. Epona was in there, mingling with the lot. The knight stayed with Malon as she looked over hissteed.

Link decided he didn't like that word, as he stuck a long piece of grass between his lips and leaned against a tree. No one seemed to notice him, but he could hear, and that was all that mattered.

"The horses must be in such good care at the palace!" Malon said, patting the horses neck.

"We have only the best who take care of them," said the knight in a friendly voice, "Except you, of course. You seem to have quite a way with such noble animals."

Malon was probably flushing at the compliment. "Well, no more than anyone else who could have grown up on a ranch."

"A good thing, too," the knight had a ring to his voice, "When I was told to fetch a good horse for a newly appointed, I never would have imagined to have such a young and beautiful woman to be helping me with the task."

Link frowned. He really didn't like this man, and he realized why. He wondered when he should step in. He heard Malon laugh nervously and deny the knight's words.

Not that he and Malon were an "item" so to speak, but he had a duty to protect his friend. His free, caring, lovely, available-unless-arrogant-knight-sweeps-her-off-her-feet, friend.

Damn it all, he was not jealous. Just envious.

Blast it, that was the same thing!

Suddenly, Link's attention was diverted to a soldier who was trying to catch Epona. He chuckled at the futility as she kicked dust into the man's face and was downed.

Eventually, the group of men rendezvoused back to where Malon and the knight were having a pleasant discussion, and interrupted them with the news that they had found an ideal horse – a pretty gray mare who was already quite tame. They discussed a date when someone would come and fetch the horse after her preparation and payment.

As Malon walked them out to the entrance, Link followed quietly, curiously.

"My beautiful lady, I fail to remember a proper introduction." The knight said, meaningfully, before he mounted with the rest of his men (who were yawning loudly, the man with dust in his face was trying to wipe undesirables from his chest plate. It only served to get stuck on his gloves, so he moaned and gave up).

"Oh!" Malon exclaimed, bonking the side of her forehead with the ball of her palm. Link had always thought of it as a silly gesture, endearing, but silly. The high ladies of the court would have scoffed, but then again, he had never been fond of the high ladies. They figured themselves to sit too high for his tastes. "I'm Malon, daughter of the owner Talon!"

The knight bowed extravagantly, seeming quite too taken with Malon's lack of restraint around people of high respect. "Sir Cielin McKilligin, honored to make your acquaintance."

The knight moved slowly as though to capture her hand and place a tender kiss upon it, but something else happened, quite in Link's favor.

As Link had followed them to the entrance, he leaned against the house in plain view if the knight were to make such a horribly bold move (well, actually it was quite appropriate, but when Malon was involved, Link called it bold), so that when the knight would see him, Link would be delivering a good, deathly glare that could scare a poe into a bottle.

The plan worked, just as they usually do. The knight had looked right passed Malon and noticed Link, standing there, arms folded across his chest as he was frowning. Glaring. Giving every brain wave he could to say, _back off, you arrogant, imposing bastard_. Though, Link begrudgingly added, the knight really hadn't done anything wrong.

Pausing what he was about to do, the knight realized that he must have seen Link meandering about the castle. Even if he hadn't, the message was clear that the advances would be fruitless. That glare was _frightening_. The knight, deciding that it would be better (or safer) not to say anything to Link, bowed again to Malon, mounted his white horse, and said, "Farewell, my Lady." And he was gone, the thumping of many hooves traveling long through the valleys.

It wasn't until after he was nearly gone that Link realized that Malon was watching him leave. He also remembered clearly a gossip stone that mentioned her dream of being whisked away by a knight in shining armor. He had not often believed it, mainly because Malon had never shown such a longing or interest.

But…

His heart suddenly began to ache. Did she really want that…?

Malon turned abruptly to head back inside when she stopped, seeing Link leaning against the house and staring at her. "You watched everything. Didn't you." It wasn't a question.

Link shrugged.

"Good Goddesses, he was obvious." Malon laughed, "I feel a little bad now! You should be ashamed of yourself for doing whatever you did to him."

"I didn't do anything," Link said finally.

"Right."

"You could have let him take you away into the sunset. I would have been just fine, still waiting for you in the house." He tried to sound a little wounded.

Malon's face had turned red first, then drowned away when she realized what she had done. "Oh, no, I forgot! I'm sorry, but you know we've been a little low on money, and it was a deal with the palace after all, and they just showed up, and…drat, I'm sorry, Link!

Link knew it was coming. He feigned sadness as she walked briskly to him, wrapped her arms around him, and gave him a good hug.

He felt loads better already, as he squeezed his arms out from his sides and wrapped them around to her back. He leaned down a little for more closeness, and she did as he expected her to do when she felt nervous, when their embraces seemed too intimate – she patted his back, signaling to let go. Always reluctantly, he did so.

"C'mon," she said, inclining her head toward the door. "Let's make something to eat. I'm hungry."

Link followed his best friend inside, idly wondering how one could cross the line to being more than a friend. The thought and its consequences were a little daunting, so he dusted them off.

He would have to settle, for now, with watching her from a distance. Not literally of course. But he could think about a time, someday, when he would be close enough to her in order to properly sweep her off her feet.

Or something like that.

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Well, I didn't know where the hell I was going with THAT. But hey, I did one! Whoo! Don't forget to review! (reviews are yummier than scones, they are.)

Until next time!

Kabashka


	2. It's a Girl Thing

A/N: The characters will be much younger in this chapter than the first one. There's really no set timeline. It'll be a little half hazard, sorry. As you can tell, this chapter is sssshort! **Disclaimer:** I don't own characters, Nintendo does.

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A young Link, not more than at least 13 years old, lay sprawled on his back in one of the grand palace's yards, listening to the _thumps_ of an arrow hitting it's target every minute. He stared up at the sky, idly picking out shapes in the clouds, what the shapes were doing, and how long it took for the shapes to drift apart and become something new. Sometimes it bugged him the way things tended to change too quickly.

Like Malon's mood yesterday. It was so very off and strange.

Of course, it had happened a few times before in the past few months, and he couldn't understand what her deal was. One moment she would be emotionally on edge, the next she would be driving _him_ off the edge. Of sanity. Dammit all. Perhaps it was a woman thing. Like the time she had a hunger for sweets and it was all she could eat. There was no amount to satisfy her bottomless craving for a few long days, so when Link came by after at least a week with a tied up bundle of sugary concoctions, he was ultimately befuddled by her lack of gobble-down enthusiasm. There hadn't been any more mood swings from her until now.

She could be oddly frightening and _very_ difficult to argue with when she was in those moods. It had suddenly occurred to Link that most of the women he knew were frightening. Hell, most of the people he knew were women.

Instead of finding ways to annoy Malon, Link took the day to travel the field in the direction of the castle. Which brought us right back to the yard that he was lounging lazily in, the Princess Zelda firing arrows at a far away target.

"I still don't get it." Link grumbled to Zelda as she concentrated. She lowered her arrow a bit to listen to him. "I don't understand girls."

"Link, what are you talking about?" Zelda furrowed her brows together, re-training her arrow. She pulled back and released, letting it whistle through the air as it made a near bulls-eye. Her target was a good ways away.

"Girls." He said simply, as though she was supposed to understand because she was one. Her silence told him that clearly, she didn't have a clue as to what he meant. "Well, girls like Malon. But she's not all that girly, though."

Zelda's lips twitched up. She had met Malon before, and thought her quite nice if a little clumsy in formalities. Zelda actually enjoyed that, understanding that it did not hinder one's true self from glowing individuality. As one who was raised by royalty, Zelda could honestly say she was a bit envious.

She would tell Malon that, too, next time she meets her.

"She's a tomboy." Link went on. "And she can hit pretty hard, too. Uses her knuckles." He punched air. "I just hate it when she gets mood swings!"

Zelda released another graceful arrow. "Mood swings?"

"Yeah. Every month. She gets all…weird."

Zelda blinked, hand in the middle reaching for another arrow.

"And she doesn't get very active. It's like she just wants to sit and eat cookies or something."

"…Cookies?"

"Yeah. The really weird thing is that she's completely normal after a few days."

By this time, Zelda was holding her palm against her forehead.

"Is it a sickness or something?" Link asked, sounding horribly innocent.

The grip on the bow tightened.

"Or is it some girl thing?"

"Link, you…_idiot!_" Zelda shouted, blushing to the roots of her hair. "Honestly! You boys are just…silly!"

Link sat up, taking complete notice of the way Zelda looked as though she were planning to whack him in the head with her bow.

"How do I explain this?" She muttered almost to herself. "It's like this…um…"

Link watched her tap her foot.

"When a girl starts her, uh, you know… Like Malon must have recently…"

She received a look showing that he certainly did _not_ know.

"Oh, confound it!" She cried, throwing all to the wind. She set down her bow, sat down, took a breath, and explained as well as she could the details of Malon's problem, blushing all the while, praying she was explaining in a way that the clueless boy would understand.

He had been quite wide-eyed when she was done. Quickly afterward, Link bid farewell and ran out as fast as he could.

**At Lon Lon Ranch, Malon was having a bad day…**

It was going to prove worse when Link ran in as the sun was setting, dismounting a young and tired Epona.

"Malon!" He cried, running quickly to her.

She wondered what had him looking so ruffled as he stopped before her, leaning against his knees to catch his breath.

"I'm sorry, Malon! I had no idea what had been wrong with you until now. All the mood swings, the candy, the being tired and stuff…"

Malon, realizing what he was talking about, broke into a cold sweat while her face heated greatly. "Huh…well…um…"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Malon, you're too _young_ to have _babies!_"

Pause.

Twitch.

Malon brought up a fist. "Link, you…_idiot!_"

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Dumbest one-shot I'll have ever written. Don't worry, it's over now. Hahaa! Yeah, you can guess where I got the idea for _this_ one...

Thank you _so _much to:

**AngelWings86**: Thanks! I think I like the guys jealous. It makes everything seem cute. Haha. I think I'll make that knight fella show up again sometime around.

**LINKISPIMP**: Thanks, Jenny. You're a doll. I love that name by the way. We should go to the Macaroni Grill again.

**Eruruu**: Beautifully…written…? Oh dearest me, I think I'll faint from joy! What a nice review! That is sweet of you! I can't wait to write another one that is more like the first. This one ended up being just…I dunno. Odd.

Till next time!

Kabashka


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